Well, the Oilers have high hopes for the Smid/Petry pairing but in my opinion Ference is our best all-around defenseman at the moment. That just illustrates how far this team still has to go.

Sidenote: I'm loving the header on his Twitter page. Those old school Oilers gloves are awesome.

I would prefer if they broke that pairing up, and would much rather see this:

1st pair: Smid-J Schultz Why not put your adventurous offensive defenceman with your most reliable stay at home D? Not to mention strongest D man. All the holes in Schultz game are Smid's strengths, and vice versa.

2nd pair: Ference-Petry Put a more experienced and vocal vet with the ultra talented but often unfocused Petry. Petry needs someone who will immediately point out his errors to him. The missed assignments last year suggest Smid is not that guy.

3rd pair: N Schultz-Klefbom For all the negative press N Schultz got for his play with J Schultz, I'd say it was more a case of 2 guys unable to clear the net or win battles along the boards against bigger opponents (particularly Justin). Klefbom will do much better. Also, these will be sheltered minutes, unlike the Schultz squared pairing playing 20+ minutes a night last year.